A gnawing suspicion
by Onria
Summary: Spring is truly a beautiful time of the year in Fiore. Flowers bloom, the sweet scent of pastries cooling down on the windowsill fills the town and animals are having cubs. In Fairy Tail, all the couples that had formed over the years are having their own little children. But Levy red fox, previously known by Mcgarden, is having troubles... ((Author: I'm sorry))


Spring was truly a beautiful time of the year and anyone who lived in Magnolia during this time could testify to this. Flowers were sprouting, the sweet smell of pastries cooling down on the windowsills filled the city and animals were proudly showing off their new cubs. In a cautious manner, of course.

But nature was not the only one feeling the effects of this particularly beautiful spring. The local cathedral was fully booked with couples marrying or children being given their names.

This phenomenon could be noticed in Fairy Tail too. Most, if not all, couples that had formed over the years were displaying their children to the rest of the guild, most of which were running around play-fighting and practicing magic. It was a common joke to say that the children were raised more by the guild than their parents. Especially in Gray's and Juvia's case were they often let the guild take care of tehir children, while they ran off to some love-hotel. Juvia just couldn't get enough of her man. As always, it was very lively in the guild that day. Only a few members were out at missions and as a result, there was a lot of fighting.

At one lonesome table in the back, sat Levy, absentmindedly flipping through the pages of yet another book while resting her head against her hand. It was unusual for her to be so distant from the rest of the guild, especially at a day like this. Normally, she would have been hanging out at the bar, or been searching for missions with Jet and Droy. Despite her marriage, they never stopped being friends. Or a team for that matter.

"Hey, Levy!" a bright and cheerful voice exclaimed. It could be no other than Lucy Dragneel, someone she would consider her best friend at this point. She could fondly remember all the nights they shared crying over their boyfriends, eating more ice cream and marshmallows than entirely necessary. Those were the days...

"Oh, hi Lucy!", she responds. Lucy slumped down next to her with a heavy sigh.

"Ah, it's hard to catch a break these days" she complained, resting her head against the table.

"Yes, with a daughter as rowdy as Natsu in the house, I can imagine", she giggled.

"She's barely one and she screams like hell just brooke loose in her bedroom... You know what happened last night? She started crying and Natsu barged into her room, spitting fire everywhere because he thought some burglar was gonna snatch her", she shakes her head with another very heavy and very dramatic sigh.

"Doesn't she cry every night? Shouldn't he know there's no burglar?" Levy asks, tilting her head.

"Yep, but he repeats the process every night anyway", Lucy shakes her head.

The bags under her eyes were heavy and she complianed a lot, but everyone knew she secretly loved the family-life. Not only because of her own loveless upbringing, but because of her problems concieving a child. Ever since she and Natsu married, and seriously started trying to have kids five years ago she's had four miscarriages. It was extremely hard on her. Sometimes, she wouldn't take a step outside even once for weeks. But suddenly one day, she was pregnant, and stayed so. She couldn't stop talking about it. She and Juvia grew particuarly close during this time, since Juvia already had children of her own and Lucy desperately needed advice. Nine months later she gave birth to a healthy baby-girl.

"Natsu is surprisingly fatherly, huh?" Levy asks, mostly for small talks sake. Everyone knew he was one of the best fathers around. They glanced over at him simultaneously, he was currently engaged in a pretend-battle with a heap of children, all joyously screeching. He pretended to scream in agony, set himself on fire, and laid down on the ground, still screaming. That was a bit too much for the kids to handle and everyone started crying.

"Yeah, fatherly" Lucy rolls her eyes as her daughter comes crawling to her, crying like never before. How could such a strong voice reside in such a small toddler? Lucy immediately swoops up her crying child into her caring embrace, showering her in kisses and hugs.

"Did mean daddy scare you? Don't worry, I'll protect you from him", she mumbles, planting a fether-light kiss on her forehead, making her giggle.

"Oh gosh, Layla is so adorable... I can't believe she's two years old already! It felt like yesterday I ran to the hospital to get a nurse for you", Levy looked off dreamily into the distance.

"Neither can I. I'm afraid I'm going to wake up tomorrow and realize she's moving out", she jokes, making Levy giggle.

"So what's going to happen today?" Lucy asks after a moment of silence.

"Hmm... Oh, that's right! I'm going to the doctor today!" she exclaimed.

"You remembered such an important thing just now?" she shakes her head, before frowning worriedly. "What about?"

"Well... As you know, I've been married to Gajeel for years now, and we've been trying really, really hard to get a child ourselves, but... I'm having troubles with getting pregnant", Levy says. As she's talking, her voice gets thicker and she looks down at her book. It was a bigger deal to her than she would like to show.

"It's probably nothing big, though! We're most likely going to try getting myself pregnant artificially, you know that thing with tubes, if nothing else works", she says, quickly dismissing her previous mood.

"Really? Oh god, I'm sos sorry. I would've never thought that... I hope everything turns out alright for you", she cradles Layla a little bit closer to herself.

"So do I", she sighs, while tugging at the page of her book.

Lucy looked as if she was contemplating answering, she even opened her mouth to say something, but was quickly interrupted by a certain husband of hers, coming crawling on his knees with his friend Happy close behind.

"I'm sorry, Layla, I'm so sorry. Will you please forgive your daddy?" he begs. He certainly was devoted to his daughter and Levy couldn't help giggling. A few images of Gajeel with their future child popped up in her mind, warming her heart. Layla glanced him up and down with cold eyes. Well, as cold as a two-year old can get. His apology was clearly not enough, because she turns her head away from him, tiny arms crossed over her chest and a loud 'Hmpf!'. Natsu was distraught.

"Looks like she got some of her mothers personality too", Levy teases. Lucy just laughs at her husbands antics.

This was her cue to leave. Levy closed her book and placed it carefully in her little bag, as if it was the most divine of treasures.

"I'll be off then!" she announces, lightly touching Lucy's arm. She barely noticed it. She had to much work. Calming down both an distraught husband and a offended child wasn't an easy job.

"Gajeel!" Levy shouts from the other end of the square, waving her hands like crazy. Even after all these years, she still felt all fluttery just seeing his face. It was hard to contain it sometimes, especially after he's been away on a very long mission. To her, seeing him or hearing his voice, gave her the same feeling as opening a new book for the first time, or seeing you food arrive at a restaurant. Gjeel dully noted her attempts to grab his attention, though she knew he felt the same way. He was just a guy who thought himself way cooler than he was, and cool guys don't react to their girl's excited confessions of love.

But when she threw herself into his arms, feeling him encase her with his warmth and seeing his face light up in a moment of uncontrolled happiness, she knew. She knew this man loved her. And it filled her heart with joy every time. She stayed like that for a short while, savoring the feel of his skin and his metallic smell.

"Hey, shrimp", he said, voice as gruff as ever.

"Will you ever stop calling me that?" she said, slightly annoyed. He loosened his grip a bit, just enough for them to lean back and gaze into each others eyes. Her eyes automatically ran him over, searching for bandages or bruises. He never accepted a mission if it wasn't dangerous, which led to her worring herself sick everytime he accepted one. But there was no sign of injuries on him this time.

"Never", he said. Then, they leaned in for a kiss. It was as if though they were synchronized to each other, their every move reflected in the other like a mirror. Even if she didn't want to, she had to break the kiss after but a moment.

In the beginning, when she tried to display her affections for him in public, he was incredibly flustered. So much that he couldn't meet her eyes for days to come. But after a while, and a huge fight about it, he seemed to warm up a bit. Now, he had no problems with it at all, though she was always the one who had to make the first move. But they were getting there.

They separate themselves from their hug, although unwillingly. As compensation she entwines her hands in his, with a shy smile and a blush on her pretty face. Hand in hand, they start walking.

"Where's Pantherlily?" Levy asks after a while of silence. When they're not teasing each other, they're mostly silent. And they have found it that they like it that way. Of course, they have as great communication any other married couple, they just feel like they don't need words to express what they're feeling. It's a side-effect of his unwillingness to talk aout his feelings. Plus, Gajeel is the type who rather acts than talk.

"He went on home. Probably figured this matter was private", he shrugged.

"Or did you send him home because you were embarrassed?" she eyes like she just discovered a very juicy secret.

"Like hell I did! These matters are private and should keep on being private!" he said, but he couldn't hide his blush.

"What a violent reaction", she said, smirking and raising an eyebrow.

"Whatever", he grumbles.

"I guess it's ok though. It would be really embarrassing if he was present when the doctor asks about our sex-life", she says.

"Doctor?"

"Don't tell me you forgot already", she sighed.

"Doctor... Doctor... Oh yeah,that's right, about the babies and stuff", he said grinning.

"You're messing with me!" she laughs. Sometimes he liked tricking her into thinking he was more stupid than he was, and it worked every single time. He usually does it as revenge when she teases him or makes him embarrassed. It was more like an inside joke by this time. She couldn't help but to feel ashamed about doubting him though, especially since this is all she's been talking about since they got the appointment. He may be insensitive, selfish, and pretty rude at times, but he never once forgot about something important to her. Man, isn't he just perfect? She pressed herself a little closer to his arms.

"I can't wait to raise a family together with you. How many children would be enough?" she asks quietly.

"I dunno. How many do you want?"

"Two is a good number, I guess."

"Then two will be enough", he nods happily. These three years of marriage had been very happy for her. Of course they had their fights, every couple does, but it was never anything _too_ serious. Just a childish tantrum here and theren and maybe a few hissy fits. They hadn't had the longest marraige Fairy Tail, that prize went to Bisca and Alzack. Gray and Juvia were pretty close though, with their whooping five years. But Levy and Gajeel married the quickest after becoming a couple. They declared their relationship and three months later he proposed. That's the result of years of bottled up, frustrated love.

The clinic was as you'd expect. White, uncomfortably clean and the doctors diplomas hung around like they were trying to say '_at least you won't die... we hope'. _The nice, blonde woman in the reception had told them to wait in the (guess what) waiting-room until dr. Bloomberg came to fetch them for their appointment. Gajeel was squirming with discomfort, squeezed in between his wife and a very pregnant, very flirty woman. Other than the woman and the receptionist, there was no one else in the cramped room. Though, there were some gossip-magazines and toys for entertainment! And by toys, I mean kids toys. Naughty you.

A door opened and closed in the corridor behind the reception. In came an incredibly short and round man, with a pair of round glasses resting on his nose and a very impressive moustache. He looked over the room, with a few papers in hand, squinting to see clearly. One could wonder what those glasses were for then.

"Mr. and mrs. Redfox?" he announced with a much more resounding voice than expected of such a small body.

"Yes, that's us!" Levy said. Her entire body stiffened up and she got a sort of bewildered look in her eyes. She was clearly stressed, maybe even nervous.

"Ah, good. I'm dr. Bloomberg, I'll be your doctor today", he said. She quickly got up and shook his hand like the polite girl she was. Gajeel was honestly more interested by the roof than by shaking hands with dr. Bloomberg, but Levy's the elbow jammed into his side made him change his mind.

"I-I'm Levy, and this is my husband", she stiffly gestured to Gajeel. The doctor was probably as uninterested by Gajeel as Gajeel was of him.

"Please follow me to my office."

His office, on the other hand, was tastefully decorated. He seemed to be a proper and neat man, judging from the piles of paper on his desk and carefully structured furnitures. Hisd esk stood in the middle of the room, with two chairs in front of it, purposefully put there for their sake. In the back there was a door, leading only to what she could assume was where he performed his actual work. They sat down, Gajeel lazily strewn across the chair with his boots on the desk and Levy with a straight back and her hands neatly clasped together in her knees. Bloomberg seemed to read over a few papers,while he himself sat down behind the desk.

"So, you have been trying to get pregnant for quite some time, yes?" he asked.

"Yes, since we got married", she responded, a bit too quickly.

"And how long has that been?"

"Three years", Gajeel answered this time. Bloombergs face got much more stern, and it was impossible to know if it was due to Gajeel or something else.

"Hm. I see. Do you take any medicines right now?" he asked.

"No, we're very healthy", she says.

"Do you drink a lot? Any addictions with drugs, caffeine, and such?"

"We used to drink some in the past, but only at parties. I've ever had an addiction", she said, while Gajeel looked like he was about to doze off.

"Any of you ever been exposed to radiation or toxins of some sort?" Bloomberg was flipping through the paper hurriedly now.

"No, not that I know of."

"How often do you have sex? Your history of birth controls?"

"U-um, he w-was my first, so I-I've never had any use for..." she starts squirming, looking down at her tightly clutched hands.

"Condoms. We only use condoms", Gajeel bluntly blurted out.

"G-Gajeel!" she hissed in an embarrassed fit.

"What?" he hisses back.

"W-we have sex regularly, a-at least five times a week, granted I'm not on my, um, period", she responds, very flustered and ignoring her husband. Both of them easily get embarrassed talking about sex with other people, but Gajeel hates showing exactly how much, so he usually lets Levy do the talk. But Levy wasn't really all that good herself.

"Have either of you had sex outside your relationship?"

"What!? No!" they both blurt out, both offended. How dare he even propose such a preposterous thing!? They're both very devoted to each other, the very thought of someone else suggesting between them unfaithfulness was incredibly offensive. The doctor just raises his hands in a defensive gesture.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm required to ask that question. Now, if you don't mind, could you follow me. There's some things I want to check up on", Bloomberg said, walking over to the door at the very back of the room. Levy gulped hard while nervously picking at her fingers. This wasn't good, not at all. He wouldn't have to look at anything if everything was alright. The door suddenly seemed like a monster to her, something that wanted to eat her and spit out her bones if she entered it. A warm and gentle, yet rough, hand touched hers more delicate ones.

"It's ok. It's probably nothin'", Gajeel said with a crooked smile on his face.

"Yeah... You're right", she said, smiling her brightest. How silly. No need getting worked up yet! He's probably just gonna look at what method would suit them best. Gajeel never made empty promises, so it'd be better to just trust him. They got up and followed the very small doctor.

"This is the worst idea ever. I regret this. Let's go home, please", Levy whined as the doctor entered a thin camera into her. He told said that hysterscopy was the best option to look into her womb for now, especially since it's quick and needs no operation or cutting. For those who do not know, a hysteroscopy is when the doctor enters a small camera into a woman through her vagina, to have a quick look at how the womb and ovaries are working. Quick and efficient, but awfully uncomfortable. Gajeel was holding her hand, having a hard time keeping from snickering.

"C'mon shrimp, this ain't too bad. You've been through worse."

"If I hear even a single laugh-like sound from you, I will do unspeakable things to you when we get home", she warned. That seemed to shut him up for a few seconds at least. If he had learned one thing from his relationship with Levy, it was that she never gave empty threats. Ever.

"Don't worry, mrs. Redfox, I'm done soon. If needed, I can also take a look at mr. Redfox's prostate", the doctor says from between her legs.

"Yeah! Sounds like a great idea! _Doesn't it, Gajeel~?" _her voice dropped low and threatening.

"Uh... No thanks", he was quite honestly terriefied.

"Well then, I seem to be done here. Please wait in my office, I need to look a few things through", the doctor says sternly while removing the camera.

"He sure is takin' his sweet time, ain't he?" Gajeel said, very annoyed with having to wait. He was never the most patient man.

"It can't be helped. There's probably a lot of things for him to consider", she says. It had been almost half an hour and she was still making excuses on the doctors it was all just a facade. Her anxiety grew with every minute that passed. And she was usually the last one to lose hope. But now, it was disappearing rapidly, like sand through her fingers. Worst-case scenarios were passing through her head at an alarming rate.

"I'm getting a bit nervous", she said after a moment. "What if our child don't like us? What if I'm a horrible mother? Oh god, I probably AM a horrible mother!"

"Yeah", he says.

"Gajeel! You're supposed to be supportive here!" she says, increasingly more annoyed with his laid-back mannerisms.

"I'm sure you'll be a good mom or whatever. I'd be more worried about their dad if I were you", she snickers.

"Hm... You're right", she says thoughtfully.

"You're supposed to be supportive!" he repeats in a awfully high and mocking tone. She angrily puffs up her cheeks, determined to not give him the pleasure of responding. Honestly, this was not the time to bicker, but at least it relieved some of the stress. She was sure her husband felt the same way.

Finally after what seemed forever, the doctor came back. Now, even Gajeel straightened his back. The doctor simply strolled through the room on his tiny legs, barely acknowledging their presence. That paper was, as ever, present in his hands. As he sat down, the sun went into clouds and the light filtering through the windows became grey, casting an eerie shadow over the room. Bad omen.

"I was looking through some photos I took while looking at your womb", he said grimly.

"I damn well hope so, making us wait so long", Gajeel muttered under his breath.

"So, what method should we approach? I would prefer that method called 'tube-pregnancy' or something? I don't know much about it, but I think it would suit us both best. I think so at least, but you're the doctor. I may have read twenty books about this sort of thing and-" she nervously rambled on.

"Mrs. Redfox, let's not get too ahead of us, ok?" Bloomberg said grimly. She gulped loudly, gripping so hard at the hem of her dress her knuckles whitened.

"Y-yes, of course", she said. Gajeel continuously glanced over at her, but did not do anything. He himself was slightly unnerved. She was always the calm, mature one, always the one with an answer to everything. He suddenly felt like it was a good idea to not bring Pantherlily along, if only for his wife's sake.

"So, after double-checking the photos, I have come to a conclusion that..." he made a small dramatic pause, but even that short second was unbearable. You'd be surprised how many thoughts could pass through a worrying girls head in a millisecond. Fear. A gnawing suspicion she'd hid away in the deepest darkest corners of her heart, a truth she knew but did not want to face. But it couldn't happen to her. Out of all people, why would it happen to her? The odds are not in favor for that outcome. Her breathing increases. She already knew the answer before he said it, she was a smart gal, but she desperately needed someone to tell her she was wrong.

"... You seem to be infertile, mrs. Redfox", he continues.

And thus, a gnawing suspicion was confirmed.

This was even worse than Gajeel had anticipated. If he was sterile, he wouldn't have minded it, honestly, but she... If there's one person in this world who deserved all happiness and everything she's ever wanted it was her.

"I suspect it has been like this since birth. Your overies are simply not producing any eggs. Everything else seems to be working fine, but at this point, there's nothing we can do for you and your husband. I'm sorry, mrs. Redfox", he said, regretfully.

Silence hung over them like a pressure, weighing down on their chests. It was hard to breathe in that closed space. When he recovered from the shock, which was awfully quick, he glanced over at Levy once again. She did not move. She just stared blankly ahead with her face still twisted in a shocked grimace, like a marble statue. He would have barely noticed her grief if it wasn't for her eyes. As they say, eyes are the mirror to ones soul and her eyes were dead. The upbeat, joyous brown eyes he came to love once were no longer.

"Yeah, but it can be fixed right?" Gajeel said after a moment.

"As I said before, there's nothing we currently can do for you", the doctor stated sternly.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be a doctor or do they just handle out those titles for free nowadays, huh? Your JOB is to fix people, make em' better, yeah?" he stood up, smashing his hands against the desk. Doctor Bloomberg jumped. The tiny man was nothing to the enormous magician ahead of him, and he knew that as well as Gajeel knew how immaturely he was acting, even for his standards, but there was no helping it. A rage bloomed in his heart, burning hotter than anything he's ever felt before. All for the sake of his love.

"I-I'm sorry, mr. Redfox, but technology today just isn't advanced enough to c-cover this problem", the doctor stuttered.

"Don't bullshit me!" he roared and grabbed dr. Bloomberg by the collar. Now, the rational thing to do was to bring his own face close to the doctors, however Gajeel is not rational, and instead brought the doctors face to his own. The poor man was barely tall enough to reach Levy's waist, and now he was dangling face to face with a fearsome dragon-slayer with a violent past. Gajeel's arm turned into a metal blade, which he pressed against Bloombergs throat, hard enough to draw a single, lonesome drop of blood.

"I-I..." the poor doctor began.

"I said, fix it, you bastard!" he roared once again, his patience quickly disappearing.

"Gajeel..." Levy piped up, her voice weak and trembling, like a leaf in the wind. But he could not hear anything over the blood rushing through his ears, least of all her.

"She wants a kid goddammit, then help her get one! Isn't that why you're here huh?" he pressed the blade a little harder against the sweating, scared shitless doctor.

"U-uh, I... Th-there's no way-" Bloomberg said.

"Of course there is a way! Look a bit harder, you piece of shit doctor! Fix. It!"

"Gajeel, please", Levy said again, a bit higher. But to no avail.

"P-p-please listen t-to your-"

"No, YOU listen to me, shithead. I'll do horrible horrible things to you if you don't do as I say", it was not hard to see that some traces of his Phantom Lord days were still left. Levy reached out and touched his arm, as light as a feather, but he ruthlessly brushed it off.

"Now before I turn you into minced meat, you go find a solution and FIX IT", he said threateningly. Enough was enough.

Levy stood up so violently her chair fell over with a heavy crash. With a well-aimed swing, she throws her bag at Gajeel and succesfully hits him hard in the back of his head. He was so caught by surprise he dropped the man.

"What the-" he began angrily as he spun around. The first thing he noticed was heavy tears drippling down her cheeks. Her face was no longer frozen in shock like when he looked at her last, but instead it was twisted in rage. She was breathing heavily, like she just finished a marathon.

"... hell", he finished whispering.

"Gajeel Redfox, you idiot!" she yelled, even more tears streaming and her face turning mushy-red.

"I-I'll leave you two alone", Bloomberg took his chance and quickly scurried out of the room, as fast as his leg would carry. The couple remained quiet until the door was shut behind them.

"You goddamn moron! Don't you understand? I'm infertile! I can't get pregnant! I will never have a child of my own, never! I can't be _'fixed'_. Why don't you understand something so simple?" as she went on she slowly covered her face in her hands, sobbing and whimpering uncontrollably. Her tiny body was shook by every sob. He was afraid that her legs wouldn't hold her up and that she would fall due to their shaking. Straightening himself, he walked over and stopped right in front of her.

"I'm broken and I can't be repaired", she whimpered after a moment, when she could control herself enough to speak. And for the first time since their relationship took its start, their silence was awkward. He was unsure of what to do, but in that moment he knew there was only one solution. A last resort, of sorts. He wrapped her in a warm hug, tightly pressing her against him. She did not remove her hands from her face or answer the hug in any way, but he knew this was what she needed. He started stroking her hair, her soft wonderful hair, thoughtfully playing with it.

"I'm so sorry. I know you wanted to be a dad. I'm so sorry", she started repeating it over and over, like a chantra.

"No, I'm the sorry one. I was an idiot. I don't want you to be fixed. You're already perfect. Ok? You're perfect. I can live without brats, I don't care. As long as you're happy", he murmurs.

"B-but, I wanted some so bad... Did do something to deserve this?"

"Yeah, by being annoyingly perfect. Didn't you listen?" he snickers in an attempt to cheer her up. She freezes for a moment, and he starts fearing he made it worse, but she starts chuckling, so weakly it could barely be heard. She finally removes her hands from her face and wraps them around him, while burying her face in his chest.

"I'm so glad I have you", she whispers, still sobbing violently.

"Same", he whispers back.

They stayed like that for a long while, longer than she would care to count. And soon, it was all dark for her - it felt like floating on black velvet.

It seemed like she had fallen asleep right there, in his strong comforting arms in a office she would like to erase from her memories. She woke up hours later, on the sofa at home, snuggly tucked in amongst dozens and dozens of pillows and blankets. He must have carried her home to their shared apartment, but he himself was nowhere to be seen. Not that it mattered, she barely had the energy to move anyway. She didn't have to look, soon she heard heavy footsteps approaching.

"Ah. You're awake", he stated. She just nodded, not even having the energy to will herself to meet his eyes. Maybe she was unfair, but she didn't care. All she wanted was to sleep and never wake up.

"I made you some hot cocoa", he adds quitely, handing her the warm cup. Forcing herself to sit up, she takes the cup between her hands.

"Thanks", she says coarsly, quietly sipping on its contents. It was good.

"No problem. So, I was thinking..."

"What a surprise", she half-heartedly teased, to which he grunted angrily in response. She was amused, though she didn't show it.

"Anyway, so, how about we go on a little trip? Just you and me. You know, explore the world, take a little break from all these people, get time to think a little. Lily thinks it's-", he said.

"Wait. You told Lily?" she asked, her voice trembling in panic. She knew there was nothing to be ashamed over, she couldn't help it after all, but she still felt horrified at the very thought of him knowing. She didn't want him to walk on eggshells around her, she didn't want anyone to treat her differently because of this. To her, that would be the greatest humiliation of all.

"Yeah... He's my best friend, y'know. Besides, when I carried you home, you were crying in your sleep, I had to explain", he said, scratching the back of his head. Her wrath was not fun to deal with when it was awakened.

"I guess it's ok", she simply said after having thought about it.

"Great! So, how about that proposal? Let's see the world together! It's gonna be an adventure", he said, a bit more excited than he intended. Well, it certainly was a good idea. And she did not have the energy to deal with the guild when they inevitably got to know the news. She just couldn't handle their outrageous, overdramatic reactions, not now. All she wanted was some calm stability.

"Only if Pantherlily comes with us", she replies. He grins widely. Pantherlily was probably the only friend she could rely on to remain calm and collected for now.

"Yeah, sure", he says, before moving to sit down next to her on the sofa. Almost out of instinct, she leans on him, closing her eyes, imagining the world outside Magnolia. A world she was about to explore. He puts his arm around her, grining to no one but himself.

"Don't worry, this'll be great... I love you", he says, his cheeks turning into a slightly deeper color. That was the first time he said 'I love you' first.

"Yeah... I love you too."

––––––––––––

Authors Note. Hey, here's the promised one-shot! I had some troubles uploading this, so it took longer than expected. But, here you go. I got inspiration for this when I saw all the child headcannons on tumblr, and thought "HEY WHAT IF... NOT!" and then this was born. I also thought this would be a great way to rip up those wounds from this weeks episode (which I was very impressed by). This is my second fanfic ever and I'm swedish so please bear with me uvu Constructive criticism is always appreciated! Credit for the image goes to the wonderful .com!

Love, Onria


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